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What Happened at Popular Woodworking?

Over the last few years it has become obvious that the values we have for the craft of woodworking, creating and marketing content, and relations with the audience are not shared by the management of Popular Woodworking and its parent company. When you realize that the boat you’re on isn’t ever going to sail in the direction you want to go to, it is best to get off. And, as when any relationship comes to an end, the public discussion of the details serves no purpose.

There is enough spin and speculation online regarding our departure to warrant a response. To clarify, we resigned our positions as a team and going forward we will be working together as a team. Our decision to leave was not a hasty one, it came after a year and a half of discussing our concerns regarding the brand’s editorial direction and marketing policies with management at all levels of the company. The “restructuring” occurred several months ago, with the departure of Kevin Ireland. While that was a factor, it was not the sole cause. While we have been asked to submit contributions in the future, none of us has accepted that invitation.We want to thank each and every one of our readers who have taken the time to express their appreciation for our work. We are honored, humbled and dedicated to living up to the things you have said about us. We have decided to move on and we hope that those who enjoy our work will find the next phase of our careers as interesting and exciting as we do. We can be found online at 360woodworking.com and if you visit the site, you will be in the front row as our plans unfold.

The “marketing policies” were certainly causing me to take a step back and reconsider Popular Woodworking as my only subscription and main resource. I’m not clear on what would be included in “editorial direction”, but I’ve noticed changes that have concerned me.

Just a quick question: who, if anyone, is going to look into the maker community effort now that you guys are gone from Pop Wood? Do you know if this will be continued? I just signed up my club last week and I’m wondering where it’ll end up.